Newsletter

Barton: Stupid legislator tricks

Never underestimate the ability of the Georgia Legislature to foul things up.

That should be the motto of every citizen when the legislature is in session — like it is now.

A prime example is House Bill 409.

This measure would make a good bird cage liner.

If approved, it would ban licensed animal shelters in the state — like the ones operated by the Humane Society of Greater Savannah and through Chatham County Animal Control — from spaying or neutering dogs and cats before adopting them out.

Such a restriction is beyond ludicrous. One of the biggest problems here and in many other areas of Georgia is pet overpopulation. Too many dogs and cats need good homes. But there are too few people willing to adopt them.

Sadly, that means about 300,000 dogs and cats must be euthanized annually across the state, animal welfare experts have said. The biggest contributors to this carnage are pet owners who don’t spay or neuter their animals.

Some who don’t spay or neuter may view this as a cost factor, especially in areas without a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. (The closest low-cost clinic to Savannah is the Spay/Neuter Alliance and Clinic in Ridgeland, S.C. It charges $50-60 for cats and $65-75 for dogs.)

Other owners, however, suffer from the Bubba (or Bubbette) syndrome — not giving a rip about indiscriminate breeding and seeing constant reproduction as a healthy sign of an animal’s virility.

HB 409 wouldn’t just stick a knife in shelters trying to do their part to stop overpopulation. It would twist it by preventing local governments from encouraging pet owners to act responsibility.

If approved, counties and cities would be prohibited from offering licensing discounts for altered pets. In Chatham County, the owner of a neutered dog or cat can purchase a rabies tag for $5. For an un-neutered pet, the cost is $35. Thus a big incentive for spaying and neutering would vanish.

It’s incredulous that any rational adult would try to make a terrible situation worse. But this is the legislature, where rationality is optional. In the case of HB 409, there are five adults pushing this bad bill. All are Republicans.

If this measure is their idea of getting government off the backs of people — or, in this case, off the backs of dogs and cats so they can make more dogs and cats — then they’ve got Alpo for brains.

They are Jon Burns of Newington (the only lawmaker from this area), David Knight of Griffin, Earl Ehrhart of Powder Springs, Jason Shaw of Lakeland and Jay Roberts of Ocilla.

Roberts, incidentally, recently made news here regarding the renaming of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge. A week ago, he informed State Rep. Ron Stephens, the dean of Chatham County’s delegation, that local lawmakers can’t change the bridge name without jumping through more hoops in Atlanta.

It’s good to see that Roberts has his priorities straight — making sure that Georgia’s segregationist past is remembered and ensuring that overwhelmed shelters will have plenty of animals to kill.